Justices Reject Challenge|to Ohio Voting Laws

(CN) — A week before Election Day, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay that would have prevented Ohio from enforcing election laws called unconstitutional by several voters’ rights groups. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, among others, sought to keep Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted from enforcing the “five fields” rule passed as part of Senate Bill 205. The rule requires that five identifiers — including name and address — filled out by provisional and absentee voters match perfectly with state voting records. Homeless and minority voters say the “perfection requirement” is discriminatory, but the Sixth Circuit court disagreed and refused last month to grant an en banc hearing. The Supreme Court’s denial of a stay in the case Monday means the challenged provisions will be in effect for Election Day. The case is one of several that will have an impact on the 2016 general election, with the Sixth Circuit already ruling that Ohio’s elimination of a week of early voting was not unconstitutional.